No, this would break anonymity. You need to choose: either you want an anonymous survey (as technically defined in Limesurvey) or you want to be able to pass attributes.
Because even if you would only use attributes that can not identify the respondent, if Limesurvey would offer the option, then the anonymous mode couldn't be considered anonymous anymore.
Even passing attributes/variables via the link is dodgy (in my opinion), when talking about "technically anonymous" surveys.
What we often do in market research is to promise that the data will be analyzed anonymously, while there is still an option to connect respondents' data with responses (e.g. for inviting them to a follow-up research project, to provide incentives/raffles, quality control, etc.).
In this case the anonymity is not based on technology, but rather based on research ethics. We promise to not analyze data together with personal information. After a while the personal information is disconnected from research data and later also deleted, when we are sure we don't need it anymore.
Now if you want or need to guarantee 100% anonymity based on technology, then you can't pass data from the token table to the response table or the survey, but I also think you shouldn't pass any variables via the survey link. In your case the data you pass might not break anonymity, but respondents don't know this. The variable you pass on could stand for anything (e.g. be an ID), etc.
Help us to help you!
- Provide your LS version and where it is installed (own server, uni/employer, SaaS hosting, etc.).
- Always provide a LSS file (not LSQ or LSG).
Note: I answer at this forum in my spare time, I'm not a LimeSurvey GmbH employee.
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